Gusto Shipyard

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Gusto Shipyard was a Dutch shipyard in Schiedam, famous for dredging vessels and offshore work. Its roots go back to 1862, when Guust Smulders started a small machine factory. The business grew in Utrecht and Slikkerveer, and in 1905 a new shipyard was opened in Schiedam, combining shipbuilding with a machine factory. In 1911 the company was renamed Gusto, a blend of Guust and his wife’s name.

The Schiedam yard produced many dredging ships, floating cranes, and coal elevators, and also built sea-going ships and some naval vessels for the Dutch Navy. The Smulders family played a key role, and by 1917 the company helped form the IHC group of shipyards.

After World War II, Gusto shifted more toward offshore work. It designed and built jack-up rigs, including Seashell in 1959—the first jack-up rig built outside the United States—and other offshore platforms. While the offshore business grew, the Dutch shipbuilding industry faced intense competition.

In 1978, Gusto Shipyard was closed amid a government restructuring of the industry, a move that was surrounded by controversy. Most workers moved to RSV, a larger shipbuilder. The engineering office survived, becoming part of RSV and later IHC, and eventually evolved into GustoMSC. The design office was later sold and is now part of NOV Inc.